Charles Skinner
An exhaustive history of North American folklore, Myths And Legends Of Our Own Land was authored by Charles Montgomery Skinner, who often was credited as CM Skinner. Born in 1852, CM Skinner came to Brooklyn, New York from Hartford, Connecticut, working as an American writer and folklorist. He had a diverse writing career working as the editor of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, as a well as an dramatic and art critic for the paper for 15 years. Before working for The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, CM Skinner was a writer for The Brooklyn Times. He also authored a collection of works including plays and books on gardening. Viewed as an educational expect by his peers, CM Skinner was termed “the myth and legend man” from The New York Times.
The Myths and Legends of Our Own Land consisted of nine volumes and featured stories from across the United States, with each book consisting of a region, such as the Hudson Valley, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and more. CM Skinner saw value in the United States’ history, and didn’t want them to be lost to the ages, so he collected these folk tales, which include stories from the Indian tribes, religious histories, and more. Among the tales that will be recognized by readers of the collection is the story of Rip Van Winkle. CM Skinner died at age 55 in 1907.
Fairy tales by Charles Skinner
- Berkshire Tories
- Birth of the Water-Lily
- Balanced Rock
- A Blow in the Dark
- The Blacksmith at Brandywine
- Block Island and the Palatine
- The Buccaneer
- Big Indian
- The Baker's Dozen
- The Ball Game By the Saco
- Crosby, the Patriot Spy
- The Courtship of Myles Standish
- The Crumbling Silver
- The Cortelyou Elopement
- The Crow and Cat of Hopkinshill
- The Consecration of Washington
- Catskill Gnomes
- The Catskill Witch
- Condemned to the Noose
- The Culprit Fay
- A Chestnut Log
- Chocorua
- Chief Croton
- The Deformed of Zoar
- The Drop Star
- The Division of the Saranacs
- The Devil and Tom Walker
- Dolph Heyliger
- The Devil's Stepping Stones
- Delaware Water Gap
- A Dinner and Its Consequences
- The Dead Ship of Harpswell
- The Devil's Dance-Chamber
- Dunderberg
- The Fatal Forget-me-not
- The Forest Smithy
- The Falls of Cohoes
- Francis Woolcott's Night-Riders
- The First Liberal Church
- Father and Son
- Flame Scalps of the Chartiers
- Father Moody's Black Veil
- The Green Picture
- The Gray Champion
- Goody Cole
- General Moulton and the Devil
- The Galloping Hessian
- The Great Carbuncle
- The Gloucester Leaguers
- Horseheads
- Howe's Masquerade
- The Hobomak
- The Haunted Mill
- Heartbreak Hill
- Harry Main: The Treasure and the Cats
- The Headless Skeleton of Swamptown
- Haddam Enchantments
- The Home of Thunder
- Lady Eleanore's Mantle
- The Loss of Jacob Hurd
- The Lost Grave of Paine
- The Last Shot at Germantown
- Love and Treason
- Lord Percy's Dream
- The Last Revel in Printz Hall
- The Lamb of Sacrifice
- The Lewiston Hermit
- Love and Rum
- The Lady Ursula
- The Loss of Weetamoo
- The Monster Mosquito
- The May-Pole of Merrymount
- Mother Crewe
- Miss Briton's Poker
- Mark of the Spirit Hand
- The Missing Soldier of Valley Forge
- Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket
- Micah Rood Apples
- Marion
- Moodus Noises
- The Marriage of Mount Katahdin
- The Moose of Mount Kineo
- Moodua Creek
- The Old Mill at Somerville
- Old Esther Dudley
- Old Indian Face
- The Old Stone Mill
- Origin of a Name
- The Owl Tree
- The Prophet of Palmyra
- Polly's Lover
- The Party from Gibbet Island
- The Phantom Dragoon
- The Phantom Drummer
- Parricide of the Wissahickon
- The Partridge Witch
- Pokepsie
- Passaconaway's Ride to Heaven
- Peter Rugg, the Missing Man
- The Revenge of Josiah Breeze
- Rogers's Slide
- The Rising of Gouverneur Morris
- Roistering Dirck Van Dara
- The Rival Fiddlers
- Robert Lockwood's Fate
- Rip Van Winkle
- The Revenge of Shandaken
- The Ramapo Salamander
- The Retreat from Mahopac
- The Skull in the Wall
- Shonkeek-Moonkeek
- The Salem Alchemist
- Sale of the Southwicks
- The Springs of Blood and Water
- Samuel Sewall's Prophecy
- The Shrieking Woman
- Skipper Ireson's Ride
- The Skeleton in Armor
- Saved by The Bible
- The Snoring of Swunkus
- The Schoolmaster Had Not Reached Orrington
- Storm Ship on the Hudson
- Skinner's Cave
- Salem and Other Witchcraft
- Satan and His Burial-Place
- Wahconah Falls
- The White Deer at Onota
- Wizard's Glen
- The Wild Man of Cape Cod
- The Weary Watcher
- Wyandank
- The Wessaguscus Hanging
- The Windam Frogs
- The Watcher of White Island
- The White Mountains
- Why Spuyten Duyvil is so Named
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